PAYBACK TIME
Berra: Jambos chiefs did their bit by rebuilding Tynie .. now we need to get it right on the pitch
ANN Budge and her board have delivered the stand – now Hearts skipper Christophe Berra is determined to deliver the standing ovations.
The pressure of constructing the new £12million structure at Tynecastle has eased after it opened for the first time against Partick Thistle on Sunday.
Now the strain will build on Berra and his team-mates to deliver the results to help pay back such significant investment in the infrastructure of the club.
The Jambos are asking top dollar for corporate packages with many season-ticket prices also pitched at a level that reflects the cost of the new stand.
The punters struggled to find their money’s worth in the low-key 1-1 draw against the Jags but Hearts still have another five games in a row to play at the Gorgie ground, starting this weekend against Ross County.
Berra said: “You can see the new stadium is really nice. There are still works to be completed inside but the facilities are a lot better than we have been used to at Tynecastle.
“They are still building the new dressing rooms but the temporary set- up in the Wheatfield Stand is better than the old ones in the main stand!
“I’ll miss the history. A lot of people were brought up with the old stand and I made my debut with it. However, times move on and this is the future.
“We weren’t always certain to stay here but we are now. It’s one of the best stadia in Scotland and a great place to play. The new stand will make the atmosphere even better.
“When all guns are firing on the pitch it will be an amazing place. Tynecastle can be a hostile environment. When you’re winning it’s a great place but when you’re not playing as well the fans won’t be happy.
“The fans have expectations and rightly so. We have to deal with them. It’s going to put pressure on us.
“There’s always pressure to deliver, especially at Hearts where we are viewed as one of the top four clubs in the country.
“We have been chopping and changing our team but it was good to have Arnaud Djoum back and David Milinkovic caused Thistle problems, especially in the first half.
“We now have a run of home games and that’s important. We are not the team we were 10 years ago and that comes down to finance but we still have a lot of good players.
“You could say the same for every team in the league apart from Celtic. Back in the day you had Rangers, Aberdeen, Dundee but the finances aren’t there now so players move south.
“Still, we have some really good players and it’s down to us to put in performances.”
Hearts arrested a run of three defeats in a row, all of them in the capital with a 1-0 loss at Easter Road followed by Murrayfield defeats to Kilmarnock and Rangers. Berra added: “Hopefully the players will get used to their surroundings again because it has been difficult to play 13 or 14 away games in a row. “Mu r r a y f i e l d is technically an away game and you could tell the difference in atmosphere when we returned to Tynecastle, even in the warm-up. The fans are closer to the pitch. “We’ve had to grind it out. We’ve got 16 points and need to take advantage of that run of home games.”